After his cameo appearance in the second leg of Barcelona's Copa del Rey tie against Catalan neighbours Espanyol last week, Philippe Coutinho made his full debut against Alaves in La Liga.

The Brazilian was named on the team sheet alongside Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi as the new holy trinity started a game together for the first time.

It wasn't Coutinho's most scintillating display; he didn't grab the game by the scruff of the neck as we have seen him do for Liverpool so many times, but it was never going to be.

Coutinho will need time to settle in at the Nou Camp and to build an understanding with the wealth of talent alongside him in arguably the best team in Europe.

Coutinho takes on Guillermo Maripan (Image: REUTERS)

He lasted 65 minutes on his full debut (Image: AFP)

Coutinho made his first start for Barcelona (Image: AFP)

But there were signs here that will happen sooner rather than later as he grew into his first league game for his new side.

It was clear he was getting used to the movements of Messi and Suarez in particular, but also Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta behind him; predicting when those balls were going to land at his feet.

He regularly interchanged positions with Messi and Suarez in a front three, dovetailing with them much in the way Neymar did as the trio became the most feared tandem in world football. What that means for Ousmane Dembele remains to be seen.